Irréversible (2002) - Movie Review

"Irreversible" is a film almost too intense to handle in one sitting. Yes, it is, at certain points, very explicitly sexual. Yes, it is, at certain points, sickeningly violent. But is it a morally abrupt film? Hell no.

"Irreversible" opens with the end credits and almost seamlessly works backward through the horrific night it is set on. The film is so masterfully shot and edited, that the camerawork is as hypnotising as it is nauseating. It gets gradually less frantic as the film goes on, but the first 20 or 30 minutes are shot as though we are on the brutal comedown of a huge drug binge or we are on the verge of fainting.

People have criticised Gaspar Noe for many things; most superficially, his incredibly graphic and unflinching depiction of rape in this film. For the uninitiated, the rape scene is around 8 or 9 minutes long... it's too much. It's completely and utterly repulsive. We, as a whole audience, want to turn away, we don't want to see as much as we do see. But violence needs to repulse us to be effective, and I'll be damned if it doesn't effect anyone on at least some level. He has also been criticised of being homophobic... oh no, not at all. Some character's may be, but not the director nor the film.

"Irreversible" is a staggering, gritty and real film... but it's necessary. We need films like this to wake up an audience from thinking violence is easy to watch. I would completely understand if someone wouldn't want to see this film, and rightly so; but for those who think they could stomach it, it's definitely not exploitative or done for shock value. It's an amazing film, with an emotional scope larger than anticipated, and the aforementioned scene (plus another infamous scene involving a fire extinguisher) have artistic and psychological merit.

This film gives us the scourge and scum of humanity, and doesn't dress it up or placate us.

A Prophet [Un Prophete] (2009) - Film Review

According to IMDB, Jacques Audiard has directed four feature films before "A Prophet", none of them seen by me. Even though I haven't seen them, I know I can make the call that this is his best.

"A Prophet" is a masterfully crafted coming-of-age story hiding behind the gritty prison-crime exterior that the film is marketed as and, on the surface, is. Not unlike "The Godfather", it is a film of body language... a film that shows you certain moments, be they relevant to the grand scheme of the story or not, and despite it being high on runtime, nothing feels unneeded.

The story follows 19 year old Malik El Djebena, an Arabian criminal, who is sent to do his first adult prison sentence in France, where, inside, he knows no-one, no friends and no enemies. Because of this, the head of the Corsicans in prison, Cesar, chooses him to be his eyes and ears inside and out. Malik has no choice whether he joins the Corsicans or not, it's either join or be killed.

His first "job" is to murder another prisoner who may rat on one of the Corsican's partners before his upcoming trial... this other prisoner, a dealer of hash inside, propositioned Malik in the shower a day previous to being asked to kill him. Malik makes friends, and offers this prisoner a blowjob in exchange for hash, readying himself to strike and cut his throat at the last minute with a razor he hides in his mouth... this doesn't go according to plan. What follows is one of the messiest and grittiest murders in recent cinema. Following this, he is now under Cesar's protection, after a while he builds his own empire of sorts outside of the prison, running drugs in and dealing to the inmates. Much to the dismay of Cesar.

"A Prophet" is an assured and calculated film about many things; prison life, religion, brotherhood, fatherhood and crime itself. The film is not as perfect as some people have claimed, and I'm not saying as of this first viewing that it's a bonafide masterpiece, but it is an outstanding, gritty and uncompromising piece of cinema. Oh, and the gunfight in the car in the last quarter of the film is one of the best. EVER.

Highly recommended.